Bringing 'Cars' culture to Disney California Adventure

Kevin Rafferty, the creative director and show writer from Walt Disney Imagineering for Cars Land at the Disney California Adventure theme park, stands in front of Ornament Valley, the setting for the land. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

When Imagineers started working on the expansion at Disney California Adventure, they realized there was nothing at the theme park about the state's car culture.

"I'm a big car nut ... I was thinking of a time period between 1955 and 1965 when the car became less of a means of transportation and more of a form of personal expression," said Imagineer Kevin Rafferty, who began working on a generic "Car Land" in 2005.

As originally conceived, the land had several shops, food and other attractions, including the new ride Radiator Springs Racers. But the land was not totally inspired by the animated movie "Cars." It was 2005 and the movie was still in production.

"We pitched the (Car Land) idea to John Lasseter and he was crazy about it," he said.

In 2006, Rafferty and the team got the chance to preview the movie "Cars" and his new Car Land's ties to the movie were obvious. But they kept developing Car Land ideas until 2007, when they got a call from Lasseter.

"He said, 'Hey guys, why don't we just turn the Car Land part of the land into Radiator Springs. Why don't we make it Cars Land?'" Rafferty said.

What made it work for Rafferty and the Imagineers was a chance to develop "an immersive experience" not seen in "Cars."

"In the movie you could not walk into Flo's V8 Cafe and you could not walk into the curio shop – places that weren't seen in the movie – but could be there if you could walk into the movie," he said.

To get a feel for Route 66, which the movie "Cars" used as a foundation for its back story, Rafferty and the team explored America's classic road, including stops at several well-known icons such as the Cadillac Ranch, where several real Cadillacs are buried in the ground with their fins sticking out.

They also ate at a famous restaurant, the Big Texan, home of the 4 1/2 pound steak meal – which is free if you can manage to eat it and all the trimmings in an hour.

"We didn't try to eat the 72-ounce steak because we wanted to live for the next 10 days of the trip," Rafferty said.

Rafferty's job was to develop stories for the different shops, restaurants and rides, including those for Mater, the "Cars" character voiced by Larry the Cable Guy.

Rafferty directed those voice sessions.

"You have not lived until you've spent two whole days with Larry the Cable Guy. We were laughing so hard, sometimes we'd just have to stop. We'd turn that into lunch," Rafferty said.

While working on Radiator Springs Racers, Rafferty found he had to be on the ride a lot to make the script work – more than 800 times.

"In order to abide by the laws and rules of the physical ride system, the script had to be adjusted accordingly time-wise," he said.

That meant getting to the park as early as 5 a.m. every day and not getting to his house in Orange until after midnight for weeks, but Rafferty says it was worth the time.

"The moons were kind of in alignment with the Car Land idea that became Cars Land, and man I don't think anything like this is going to happen in quite a while," he said.

Kevin Rafferty, the creative director and show writer from Walt Disney Imagineering for Cars Land at the Disney California Adventure theme park, stands in front of Ornament Valley, the setting for the land. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
To prepare himself for overseeing the creative direction for Cars Land, Kevin Rafferty immersed himself in the Route 66 car culture by taking a road trip on the famous American road. Rafferty served as the creative director and show writer from Walt Disney Imagineering for Cars Land at the Disney California Adventure theme park. MARK EADES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree at Radiator Springs in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure is best described as a "crack the whip" meets a country square dance type of ride, in a trailer pulled by a tractor. The character of "Mater" from the movie "Cars" sings while visitors ride the ride. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Disney California Adventure guests ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree while the character of "Mater," voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, sings country songs. The songs were written by Kevin Rafferty, the creative director and show writer for Cars Land. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The cars of Radiator Springs Racers race through Ornament Valley in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The race is the finale of the ride. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Just like in the movie "Cars," visitors to Cars Land will race around fictional Ornament Valley in cartoon-like race cars on the Radiator Springs Racers Ride, the banks on the turns reach as high as 45 degrees at one point. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The first part of the Radiator Springs Racers ride is similar to the romantic ride that the characters of "Sally" and "Lightning McQueen" took in the animated movie "Cars." This waterfall is one of the scenic moments in the ride. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The look and feel of Route 66 was one of the guiding creative principles Kevin Rafferty, the Walt Disney Imagineering creative director for Cars Land, wanted to capture. This sign is reminiscent of the Burma Shave signs that used to be by the side of Route 66 and other highways. MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Doc Hudson, a character from the movie "Cars," is featured in Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. Kevin Rafferty, Walt Disney Imagineering's creative director for the ride, said in this scene it was difficult to time the dialogue from Doc with the ride vehicles. Doc was voiced by Paul Newman in the movie. Corey Burton voiced the character for the ride. PAUL HIFFMEYER, THE DISNEYLAND RESORT
There was an effort to include all the characters from the movie "Cars" in the Radiator Springs Racers attraction. The characters here are "Fillmore" and "Sarge." Kevin Rafferty wrote the script for all the dialogue. Rafferty called the vehicles "auto-animatronics." PAUL HIFFMEYER, THE DISNEYLAND RESORT
Red is the fire truck in the movie "Cars." He also appears in the Radiator Springs Racers ride watering some flowers as riders go by. PAUL HIFFMEYER, THE DISNEYLAND RESORT
Radiator Springs Racers travels through the fictional town of Radiator Springs in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. Kevin Rafferty, Walt Disney Imagineering's creative director and writer for the ride, rode the ride more than 800 times to perfect the timing of all the dialogue and effects park visitors will experience on the ride. PAUL HIFFMEYER, THE DISNEYLAND RESORT

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